I found the following website (in German, but easy to read) that gives todays river levels at various cities in Germany. It may help you plan if taking a river cruise through Germany in the near future since Viking does not seem to give accurate river level information: http://www.wetteronline.de/pegel/pegelkarte.htm

Some examples from site:
Dresden- normal is 232cm, actual is 88cm
Passau- normal is 529cm, actual is 408cm
Mainz- normal is 338cm, actual is 165cm
Bonn- normal is 356cm, actual is 134cm
Koblenz-normal is 272cm, actual is 70cm
Dusseldorf- normal is 338cm, actual is 100cm

Thanks for this info. I just emailed it to my daughter in Dusseldorf who has been preparing a rain dance for the trip I have scheduled in November from Budapest to Nuremberg. If you read this and get any more info I’d love to hear it. Thanks so much! Lynn

For anyone taking a future Viking River Cruise to Basel, I’ve just
found a website for current water level of Rhine River at Basel:http://www.portofbasel.ch/de/sitemap.html
Today, October 8th, the depth is 2.68 (I assume it’s in meters… so that’s about 8.80 feet). Does anyone know how much water is needed?

Ann, great web site finds! You are a genius! Just returned last night. Not much sailing. According to Viking News I brought back, Viking Pride/Spirit/Europe/Neptune have a draught of 1.50 meters or 150cm or 5 feet. Don't know how much water is needed but presumably several inches or centimeters more than what the boat draws.

Here are some more websites that I found online about European river levels. Some are in English and some are not, but even when they are in English they can be very technical and hard to understand since without good maps or other knowledge you may not know where you need to look on a map or a table for pertinent information.

But, remember that you are looking for water levels in cm usually. The 4 newest Viking ships all draw 1.50 meters or 150cm or 5 feet. (By the way Uniworld’s newest ships draw 1.2 meters or 120cm or 4 feet.) So, you are looking for water levels. In German, this will look something like wasserstand (cm) or pegel in cm. The Hungarian site is in both English and Hungarian, again you are looking for depth in cm and the Hungarians translate this in English to “river stages.” Danube may be spelled Donau or something similar, and Rhine may be spelled Rhein. Almost all of these sites have links that will lead you to more details, like historical tables or maps, or graphs of trends. Once you figure out what you are looking for on any particular site, you will find loads of information.

dfb,
Awesome research! I'll remember to check the sites you found along with the ones I found if & when I ever book another European river cruise. Funny that we found these sites but Viking doesn't know anything about the current water levels

My daughter and I are planning to go on a Danube river cruise this August (2004) from Vilshofen, Germany to Budapest. However, I just found out people had to take this trip by bus last year, because the water level was so low. I don't want a bus trip!

Would you please tell me how to find out if the level is now normal? I suspect the cruise line would not be completely truthful. I can cancel if necessary. I would appreciate your help. Sincerely, Mary Jane O'Leary

I think you will be okay on a European river cruise this year. I have been concerned also, because we are cruising on the Rhine next week. I have heard back from folks who live in Europe or have recently cruised the European waterways. They all say river levels are fine--the season has been cool and wet.

I have followed the river levels on the wetteronline website that Ann mentions in the first post. I have been reassured in the last few days because the water level measurements on the Rhine have risen significantly. I also see on the weather maps that it has indeed been raining. Of course, there are no guarantees that the river will not fall, or rise, for that matter. We cruised the Danube 2 years ago and had a great trip. Within days after we cruised, the Danube flooded and cruises were cancelled.

Sorry to have to agree with the observations of others from last year. Viking continues to be unresponsive to customers' questions and concerns. In fact, even this year, when all appears to be well with their itineraries, I did not receive an answer to a question posed by email, not even an acknowledgement of the query.

The good news is that everyone I have heard from has spoken highly of their river cruise experience with Viking. Keep that in mind, and enjoy your trip!

We will be on a Rhine River cruise. Our travel agent asked Viking last week if t here was any concern about water levels this year. Viking said that there were no problems with the water levels this year and that the problems last year were on the Danube. I have no idea if that last part is true or not.

We dwere on the Viking Europe last summer, supposedly from Amsterdam to Vienna. We had to take the bus for the first few days because of low water and eventually got on the boat at Nuremburg. Lots of complaints, but Viking eventually treated us very well. We got a 20% refund on the fare and a certificate good for 50% off on a future cruise.
We are using the certificate in September on an Elbe river cruise from Berling to Prague.

it is very difficult find out with the present water levels if it is alright to have the trip in December,

The waterlevel can changes in days, this all depence on the rain.
The captains are very experienced and it sometimes a couple of inches can tell you to continue the trip yes or no.
The Cooperate Captain on the Danube is an expert as he sailed 10 years on the Danube in all kind of circumstance.
He advised the Captains.

Some Captains sail with acouple of Inches water under the ship ( low water), or have couple of Inches free by the bridge ( high water).